‘Most pain I’ve ever experienced’: Richland man survives 12-foot crocodile attack in Mexico, fights to save arm

One moment, Eric Greager was floating in the crystal-clear waters of Cozumel. The next, he was fighting for his life against a 12-foot crocodile.

Greager, who went toe to toe with a crocodile in Cozumel and lived to tell the tale, joined “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio to describe the harrowing moment a relaxing vacation left him in a hospital bed, wondering if doctors could save his arm.

“My wife and I were headed to Cozumel for a scuba diving trip, and we checked into the resort, then checked into the dive shop because we were going to be diving the next day,” Greager said. “There was some time before dinner, so I decided to go for a swim. Beautiful water and weather. I hopped in and swam for about 15 minutes to the next resort, and then swam back. I was literally about 30 yards away from the shore when I got hit and kicked in the back.”

“My first reaction was that another swimmer had hit and kicked me, which was odd, because I’d been looking out and never saw anybody,” he continued. “When I turned around, it was the biggest surprise I’ve ever had. About three feet away from me was the head of a crocodile.”

Richland man punches crocodile repeatedly during death roll

Greager explained his fight-or-flight response during the extremely distressing moment; however, he didn’t have much of a chance at an escape with his entire arm in the grip of the 12-foot crocodile’s mouth.

“I didn’t think, I just reacted. As soon as I turned, he lunged at me, and I got both hands up to try to block him. That’s how my right arm wound up in his mouth,” Greager said. “He clamped down hard on my arm and started thrashing his head back and forth like a dog with a rag toy. Feeling the power of that animal, as it turned out, this guy was about a 10- or 12-foot crocodile.”

In an attempt to save his life, Greager did everything he could to stave off the underwater beast, primarily by “hammering” him on the head with his fist repeatedly, a move that ultimately led to his release from the crocodile’s jaws.

“That was painful. My oldest son researched it later, and there’s something like 1,300 PSI of force in a crocodile’s jaw,” Greager said. “I wasn’t going to pry his jaw open. The only thing I could think of was to hammer him in the head with my left hand and kick and scream and try to cause as many problems as I could. I realized later on, he went into a death roll, where he turned over on his back, and started taking me down. Again, I’m just punching, kicking, screaming, whatever I can do to try and get out of it. For whatever reason, he let me go.”

Resort staff’s tourniquet credited with saving victim’s arm, life

As Greager swam to shore with a mangled arm, it was all hands on deck from resort staff who were able to apply a tourniquet and rush him to the hospital. Greager credited the swift action with saving his arm and possibly even his life.

“Once he let me go, and I made sure that he was gone so I could get out of the defensive posture. I’m up at the surface, and luckily, I was close to the rope buoy, so I used that to pull myself ashore,” Greager said. “Blood in the water looks a lot worse than it is, but there were sheets of blood coming from my right arm. About halfway, I started calling for help, and at least half a dozen people came out and grabbed me.”

“By this time, the adrenaline had pretty much worn off. The shock had set in, the fatigue set in. They helped me, hooked under my arms, and helped carry me to the beach,” he continued. “At a minimum, it probably saved my arm, and more likely, saved my life to stop that blood flow. Between the beach and surgery, that was the most pain I’ve ever experienced.”

Six-hour surgery repairs extensive damage from crocodile attack

In the hospital, Greager pleaded with just about every staff member on hand to save his arm. The extensive, hours-long surgery proved as difficult as expected, with several arteries and tendons severed by the crocodile.

“It was probably about an hour and a half before they took me into surgery. I was grabbing the doctor’s arms and the nurse’s arm, probably the cleaning lady’s arm, asking please save my arm,” Greager said. “One of the doctors, right before I went under for surgery, said they were going to try. They told my wife it would be a couple of hours of surgery, but it wound up being six hours. It turned out the main artery was severed, that’s where all the blood loss was. Virtually all the tendons in my arm were severed, but somehow, the two main nerves were exposed, and they remained intact, and no bones were broken.”

Fortunately, Greager will most likely be able to use his arm again, though doctors both in Mexico and back home say no one can guarantee a full recovery.

“When I first went in before surgery, they did the oxygen meter on my fingers, and it was down to like 60, which is bad. I didn’t have any feeling in my fingers. I couldn’t wiggle them. But within a few hours after surgery, the oxygen level was back up in the upper 90s. I had feeling, I had color, everything,” Greager said.

“I can’t say enough what a great job the doctors and the hospital did down in Cozumel. I’ve had a couple of doctor’s visits here locally, an orthopedic guy and a vascular surgeon, and they’ve all been very impressed with the work that the doctors did down in that little, tiny hospital in Cozumel. And the doctors down in Mexico and the doctors up here, nobody can say for sure, but they’ve made it a good chance that I’ll get most of the function back in my right arm,” he continued.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.